Autobot Outpost Defensor Sol 3-6-13
by Cyber Emblem
Summary: Hopefully the start of an ongoing series. A storyline set on Earth featuring the Protectobots (w/ Rook) and four others and their human allies coming into conflict with a Decepticon science team stationed on Earth. A series intended to give some B and C listers the spotlight, as it always bothered me it was the Leaders of both factions stationed on Earth.
1. The Red Mountain Incident

Finn Gordon put the specs he had been gifted on a desk in his new room, and curled up onto his new bed. He... he just needed to process all of this.

His parents were dead now. His only family in the world now was his brother Jason, or "Jay" as he had learned to call him. So now Finn had to move in with his brother, a member of the US Air Force. And the thing was, the thing that haunted Finn was... he was OK with that.

When he examined his heart and his situation, he found that...he hated his parents. He perceived his dad as abusive, and his mom had been... just there, his whole life. Not detrimental to him, but not supportive either. She just... went along with whatever his dad wanted.

A part of him was saying "It's such a tragedy... that this didn't happen sooner." he hated that. He hated the fact that he felt this way about his own parents, and that he couldn't even properly grieve for them. It's not like they beat him or anything, so what is his problem? What kind of psychopath was he?! The truth of the matter was, Finn was upset about the fact that, now that the initial shock had passed... he was not upset by this turn of events. What kind of person was he that he felt such a callous disregard for his own family?

But this... this cognitive dissonance. He couldn't have that in the forefront of his mind right now. No, Finn decided to bury any feelings of guilt for now, because for now... he needed to mull over the sheer bizarre nature of his situation.

And his situation. It certainly was strange. Because the incident that took his parents away from him... was an attack by a bunch of giant alien robots that could change shape. Or transform, as the military men referred to it. Apparently these creatures were a species called "Cybertronian", but all the humans around Finn referred to them as Transformers.

His parents had been killed by a group of these Transformers. And now... he was living in the same building as ten other robots from the same planet, just from a different faction.

He... he just needed to lie down and let his mind process this turn of events and just what had happened here.

* * *

Even though he was the only one who seemed to get any enjoyment from it, Mr. Logan Gordon had a habit of regularly dragging his family to Red Mountain for extended hikes under the guise of "family time".

Finn wished he would find something else that could qualify as family time, as he HATED this. The park was huge (at least, that's how Finn perceived it) as it had over 15 miles worth of trails, and the terrain was very rocky and went uphill in several places. It was called Red Mountain after all. It provided enough space and time for Mr. Gordon to complete one of his rants. Because not ONE of these hikes went by without Mr. Gordon thinking of something that his family was doing or had done wrong that he could complain and rant about. Finn wished he could return the favor.

But he couldn't complain. Jay never complained, and now he was a member of the Air Force, so he probably had to do stuff like this all the time. If Finn complained, he'd simply be negatively compared to his brother. So he simply kept his mouth shut and went with it. Though not without calling his dad a string of names in his mind and wondering why Jay never reported him for child abuse. Because in Finn's expert fifteen year old opinion, Mr. Gordon was an abusive jerk who deserved to be called out by the government. And Jay had the perfect opportunity, he worked for the government for Pete's sake.

One day, while the family was out on one of their routine hikes, they noticed the signs of the start of a forest fire. "Maybe it's not too late for us to help put it out. Get your phones ready, and Finn, give me your jacket. Maybe I can either smother part of it or find the ones responsible and tan their hides before they get away." remarked Mr. Gordon.

"Wha- Dad, no! That's a stupid idea! We should be going AWAY from the fire, not towards it! Whoever started it isn't going to be there, and besides, this is my favorite jacket, you're not going to ruin it!" protested Finn.

"Phineas Thomas Gordon, do I look like I care if it's your favorite or not? You can always get a new one, now give me your goddamn jacket right this instant or I swear, I'll ground you for a month!" ordered Mr. Gordon, ignoring his son's protests. So Finn reluctantly handed over his jacket. Mr. Gordon yanked it out of his hands and said, "Now let's stop gaping like idiots and get a move on before it gets even worse. Now come on!" he yelled. So the Gordons ran towards the fire instead of away from it.

So they ran, ran to the fire's origin point and when they got there... they stopped short in surprise. For the fire had already spread farther than they had expected, and the origin of the fire... it was not a cigarette or an unattended campfire.

No, standing in the epicenter of the slowly-spreading inferno were three giant robots with wings.

Each robot was a different color. One was dark orange, and had bright red TRON lines running across his body. Two sets stood out in particular. Two of these lines ran up from the top of his chest, up the length of his neck and ceased at the corners of his mouth, giving the impression that he was bleeding out of the corners of his mouth. Two of the lines ran down the length of his arms and ended in glowing circles on the palms of his hands.

This orange robot's entire body seemed to generate a faint glow, and a heat mirage seemed to be generated around him via his mere presence. There seemed to be exhaust panels located on both of his shoulders and his knees.

The second robot was light blue, and seemed to be carrying some sort of rifle. That was the only readily noticeable feature about him.

The third robot was light purple, and seemed to have some sort of elongated weapon strapped to his back. He also seemed to have welding goggles attached to his forehead for some reason.

All three robots had ominous looking purple badges emblazoned on their wings and on their chests. At this moment, the fire seemed to have their complete attention. The orange and blue robots facial expressions indicated fascination, the purple one's indicated satisfaction.

"What the HELL?!" blurted out Mr. Gordon.

This caught the attention of all three robots. A psychotic look spread across the face of the orange one. "Oh sweet, I get to try some new tinder!" he exclaimed enthusiastically. He reached out with his hand, palm facing outward, and the glowing circle on his palm opened up and flames began to jet out.

The purple robot looked horrified. "Sunstorm! No!" he cried as he lunged forward and grabbed Sunstorm's arm and pointed it skyward, making it miss the Gordon family, as they barreled away from where Sunstorm had been aiming.

"What the frak, Hotlink? Why do you have to ruin my fun?" complained an angry Sunstorm.

"Once again, your pyromania has made you forget your orders." shouted Hotlink in return. "Don't you remember? If we got the opportunity, we were to CAPTURE any humans we encountered. We need test subjects for Project Orthrus, remember? Anyways, 'new tinder', what the scrap are you talking about? You've incinerated humans before."

"Right, right. You're right. Uh... you want me to go after them?" asked Sunstorm, regaining his composure.

Hotlink sighed, exasperated "You know what? You'd better not. We're in the middle of a forest. We're surrounded by flammable objects and it's blatantly obvious that you won't be able to control yourself. Why don't you just continue making our attention grabber bigger? I'm sure you'd love to do just that anyways."

Hotlink looked at the blue robot "Bitstream. You go after them. Remember, we don't want to jam their communications immediately so don't bother doing it wirelessly. Actually, this limitation will give you the opportunity to test something for me." he said, tossing Bitstream a small object "essentially? That's a scaled down EMP packed into a grenade. I want to see if we can use it to short out human electronics on the fly, this should serve as an adequate test run. Just make sure you get the timing right and don't wind up wasting it on accident." he instructed

"I'll take care of our secondary goal and get our backup lined up, because we all know who's inevitably going to come now."

"Right." echoed Sunstorm and Bitstream, and they set off on their respective missions.

"...Why the **frak** am I the one doling out orders here? You're the one who's supposed to be in charge of the Heat-Seekers, Sunstorm. Not me. I'm not a leader, I'm just the pyrotechnics expert." Hotlink muttered to himself once they had both left.

Once he got those harsh words out of his system, he activated his comlink. "Hey Bombshock? As expected, Sunstorm screwed something up... Yes, already. Bitstream is chasing after some runaway humans... No, they're just some random civilians, it's not any of them. I was just about to go after them. I know it's an inconvenience, but could you have either Growl or Tracer come down here in case one of my wingmates needs some help? Cause you know how competent they can be sometimes."

He said this bit sighing and rolling his eyes. "...What? No, don't send him. Grapeshot..." he sighed "I'm sorry, **Drop**shot would probably be overkill in this situation. Besides, I need him as MY backup. I'm going in right away, so send him my way. Please and thank you." finished Hotlink.

He got off his comlink, took a deep breath and sighed. He rubbed his face then cracked his fingers. "Alrighty then, let's do this." he proclaimed, and he then proceeded to lower his goggles over his eyes and to draw his weapon from his back.

* * *

The Gordons charged through the park with Bitstream hot on their heals. Mrs. Gordon had nearly completed their call to emergency services, when Bitstream threw the EMP device.

"Oh like HELL you're gonna!" shouted Mr. Gordon, and he promptly kicked the EMP grenade right back at Bitstream. It was an expert kick too, it exploded right in Bitstream's face.

Bitstream fell to the ground, clutching his eyes... while laughing. "Holy SCRAP Hotlink! Don't keep that think aside exclusively for humans! We can totally use this thing as a flashbang, just like Nightbird!"

This behavior freaked out Mrs. Gordon, so she yelled at her husband "Logan! Don't just stand there! Emergency services aren't going to be enough, call Jay! We need the Air Force!"

"I get it Kate, you don't need to shriek." shouted Mr. Gordon in response. So as they tried to put some distance between them and Bitstream, Mr. Gordon dialed the phone number of his elder son, and received the voicemail. "**Jason!** **Pickup your goddamn phone! This is an emergency! We need you to**-" a shot rang out and Mrs. Gordon and Finn were sent flying through the air.

Mrs. Gordon recovered first. She looked for her husband, and when she saw him, she screamed. Mr. Gordon was lying dead on the ground, half his head, his upper torso, and his arm had been charred away.

"Oh come on Tracer! You weren't supposed to kill him!" shouted Bitstream in dismay.

The remaining Gordons quickly looked over at Bitstream, then glanced over at where Bitstream was looking. There was a mostly black robot sitting on a large rock and leaning on a tree. He appeared to be wearing a visor and some sort of face mask, and he was holding what appeared to be a smoking sniper rifle.

This robot... Tracer, sighed. "I just want to say, for the record, Bitstream. I was aiming for his phone. And I actually did hit my intended target, but how was I supposed to know that the impact would cause THAT? It's not my fault that humans are so fragile."

Tracer shook his head "Regardless, I have a hard time believing that was entirely my fault, I remember reading that they recently found that a certain brand was super faulty. It was called a universe 9 or something ridiculously grandiose like that. Maybe he owned one of those? Whatever, this isn't a complete bust, the other two are still alive. Just grab them, and let's take them back to the rendezvous point."

So, Bitstream scooped up Finn and Mrs. Gordon, and they began to walk back to the place where this all began. Hotlink and Sunstorm were nowhere to be seen, but they had now been replaced. Now, in the center of the clearing stood a large green and blue robot. He had tank treads protruding from his shoulders and a cannon sticking protruding from his back. Standing with him, were about a dozen other robots, all of which looked identical to one another. Some were red, some were yellow, and some were blue.

"Where are the others, boss?" asked Tracer.

"Hotlink, Dropshot, Growl, and the Vehicons are off taking care of the primary mission. HE has been assigned to help them. We're letting Sunstorm indulge in his pyromania. It'll help suit our purposes anyways." responded the blue and green robot. "We... either have to find more humans or simply sit tight and wait for our guests to arrive."

As soon as those words left his mouth, a swirling green vortex materialized in the air nearby. The green and blue robot looked at it passively while all the other robots readied their weapons. "Ah, and here they are. How did that human saying go? 'Speak and he shall appear?', I think that fits."

"Don't just stand there and spout human quotations, Bombshock! Get ready!" shouted Bitstream.

Suddenly, the vortex emanated a purple aura, and all the robots began to struggle to keep their weapons steady. Then, a riderless white police motorcycle zoomed out of the vortex and rammed Bitstream in the chest. For the second time in a row, the light blue robot was knocked onto his backside by something significantly smaller than himself.

Using Bitstream as a launching pad, the motorcycle flew through the air and then... it changed shape into yet another robot. This new robot's arc through the air ended with him grabbing one of the yellow robots by the head, and using his momentum to pick him up and judo toss him into some of his comrades. He landed on his feet with the skill of an Olympic gymnast, then he gracefully pirouetted behind another of the identical robots, which was promptly shot apart by its fellows.

"Scrapmetals! Cease fire! You-" Bombshock's order was interrupted by a red car driving out of the vortex. It drove into the midst of the Scrapmetals, and changed into... it could only be described as a grey rectangle with a face and a red back. It lifted its hands and a purple aura emanated from them. A couple of Scrapmetals began to float in the air. It motioned in the air, and they were flung in Bombshock's direction.

Bombshock casually punched them out of his way. "Throwing Scrapmetals? Really? Is that honestly the best you can come up with Win-" then out of nowhere, he was rammed by a SWAT truck going at full speed. He was thrown into a nearby hillside, causing a cascade of rocks, briefly inconveniencing him.

The SWAT truck, somehow still intact, backed up at full speed and now rammed into Bitstream, who had just gotten back onto his feet. Instead of sending him flying, it carried him until it collided with a tree.

Meanwhile, Tracer took one shot at the foes he could see before he sensed something amiss. He jumped to the side just in time to just be barely grazed by laser fire. He spun about and witnessed an orange robot dual wielding elongated pistols leaping from the trees. The orange robot opened fire upon him and Tracer fired back. "And... of course Scoop is here. Don't you have more important things to do?!" he shouted grumpily at the orange robot.

The police motorcycle-robot used this opportunity to swoop in and come to the humans' rescue. A larger silver robot rammed Tracer from behind, then, the police-cycle leapt off of his back and dropkicked an approaching Scrapmetal in the face. He backflipped and landed gracefully in front of the humans. He pivoted to look at the silver robot. "Good work, Streetwise! You stay here and help Rook, Scoop, and Windcharger just in case any reinforcements come. I'll get the humans to the evacuation zone!"

"Will do, Groove!" shouted Streetwise in response as he charged into the fray.

The police-cycle bot- Groove, got on one knee to talk to the humans "Now how did that saying go again? Come with me if you want to live?"

"H-how can you expect us to trust you?!" shrieked Mrs. Gordon. "One of you just killed my husband!"

Groove sighed "One of the Decepticons killed him, ma'm. I'm an Autobot." he said, tapping on his chest. Finn now noticed the red, friendly looking face emblazoned there, that emblazoned on all the helpful robots, he realized.

"We come from the same place, it is true, but we are at war with the Decepticons. Calling us the same thing would be like... I don't know, what's the best human analogy? Accusing a Yankee of being a Confederate?" then he stopped talking and put a hand to his ear.

"Wait... hold on... sorry. Eject is screaming in my ear, telling me that that is a HORRIBLE analogy. Well what analogy would YOU make?" he nodded, before he turned back to the Gordons and saying "He says that a better metaphor would be like accusing a German American or a German-Jew serving in the Allied Army of being a NAZI. Does that make more sense?" he stared at the humans for a few moments before putting his hand to his ear again. "Yea... are you sure that you got that analogy right, Eject? They're making faces. You know what? It's not important."

Groove disconnected his call and told the humans "Look, I'm here to help, and I want you to live. I can get you to an evacuation zone where the military will meet us. Isn't that good enough for you?"

* * *

Soon, they were riding through the park on Groove's motorcycle form. He expertly maintained balance despite the terrain not being at all conducive for motorcycle riding. As they rode, they eventually heard the sound of... helicopter blades.

"Oh no... are those murderers about to catch us?" moaned Mrs. Gordon.

"No ma'm, those helicopter blades that you hear? I know them, they belong to someone just as crazy and dangerous as any Decepticon, but he's on our side." responded Groove as a red rescue helicopter flew into view.

Suddenly, it began to smell as if the air itself was burning. The smell was accompanied by an orange jet rocketing into sight. The water in the air evaporated as soon as it came into contact with this jet, created a trail of steam. The flames exhumed by its engines were much larger than normal, and smoke and flames liked out through some vents on the bottom of this jet.

Clearly Sunstorm deciding to pay attention to something other than the fire that he had started. "Still alive and with the Autobots, huh? Not for long!" he exclaimed enthusiastically as he began to release incendiary bombs.

Groove weaved through all of them, not taking a single hit and not allowing his passengers to be affected.

"...Should've known that that wouldn't work." muttered Sunstorm as he changed shape. He kept the same speed and altitude, being suspended by what appeared to be a built-in jetpack beneath his wings and rockets built into his feet. "How about this, then?" he said, putting his hands together. In-between his hands he began to begin to build up what looked like a miniature sun.

The rescue helicopter flew above him at a ten-o'clock angle. Then it changed shape and tackled Sunstorm into the forest below. The sun-shot went wild, utterly missing the trio.

"See, we're fine. Blades has him handled." commented Groove. "Alright, we're almost to the rendezvous point. We just have to-" suddenly an explosion threw them all into the air. Finn landed on top of his mother, so he was the first to recover and see what had happened.

Hotlink was back, and standing with him was a short, visored red robot, and a masked robot that had a rocket launcher attached to his back. The launcher was aimed directly at them. Standing with them were about two dozen sleek purple robots with no discernible faces, only silver visors with red slits. For some reason, Finn could tell just by looking at them that they were tougher than the Scrapmetals.

"Huh, you Autobots got here quicker than anticipated." muttered Hotlink. "Dropkick, Growl, and I just finished."

"It's Drop**shot**!" shouted the robot with the rocket launcher indignantly, while the red robot glared. Hotlink simply waved him off.

Finn crawled over to Groove "Groove... Groove! Can't you do something! Like use your awesome ninja powers and hidden weapons to get us out of this."

Groove groaned "Sorry kid, I'm just very spry on my feet, I'm not actually a ninja. I don't even carry weapons. I never have, I'm a... let's just call me a conscientious objector, OK? I'm willing to help in the war effort and to save lives, heck, I'm even willing to stretch my code and be the indirect cause of a loss of life, but I... I can never bring myself to wield a weapon and actually intentionally take a life. And, I'm not in the condition I was in my prime anymore... sorry kid, I won't be much good right here and now."

Finn froze and stared at Groove for several moments, before he shouted "What kind of war robot **ARE** you?!"

Groove chuckled a bit at his reaction. "It doesn't matter anyways, kid. Not like I'd stand much of a chance on my own anyways Hotlink may be a scientist, but he's no pushover, and Dropship may be his team's muscle, but that doesn't make him dumb unfortunately. I'd say he actually has at least average intelligence. Then there is the matter of these drones. Vehicon Troopers are a completely different breed than the Scrapmetals. Literally."

"Scrapmetals are essentially what you'd get if you had early caveman suddenly crawling out from under the Earth one day. But without any intelligence whatsoever and they all got put under mind control by some dictator or another. Vehicons are trained drones with artificial intelligence, explicitly designed for combat. They're grunts, but they aren't complete pushovers." he explained.

"We're all going to die!" moaned Mrs. Gordon

Suddenly, Sunstorm was thrown through the trees and onto the ground nearby, covered in slashes. A fierce looking red robot carrying a sword followed after him. Half the Vehicons aimed at him... then a blue fire truck drove off a nearby cliff and landed on top of some of them. It fired its hose at Hotlink, knocking him off his feet. The firetruck changed shape into the tallest robot Finn had seen yet. Then chaos reigned.

The fire-truck robot used his hose like a whip and began to throw Vehicons around. He charged into a group of three and knocked one onto the ground and grabbed another by the head in his charge. Simultaneously, he crushed the head of the fallen one underfoot with a powerful stomp, kicked another with his spare leg, and smashed the head of the one he grabbed into a nearby boulder.

Blades swung his sword in his hands, and it converted into a set of helicopter blades which promptly attached itself to his arm. He held his arm outwards, blades first, and had powered on the blades, creating a sort of shield. Any laser fire that hit it simply bounced off.

One Vehicon drew a sword and tried to advance on Blades. His blade simply bounced off, and Blades swiftly cut his arm off when he tried, then he spun around and cut the Vehicon in half at the waist.

The short red robot, (Growl, supposedly) drew some Vehicons into trying to shoot at the downed Groove, but the Vehicons were downed by laser fire emanating from the cliff that the fire truck had driven off of, making Growl duck for cover. Finn looked up to see three identical masked white robots with blue visors firing upon them. "Autotroopers. They're our answer to the Vehicons. We don't have as many, though." explained Groove.

As the battle continued, Finn and his mother got up and tried to flee towards where Groove said the rendezvous point was in the chaos... but their escape attempt went horribly wrong. Dropshhot had primed his rocket launcher and had it aimed at Blades. But Blades noticed, and just as he was about to fire, Blades slashed him. The rocket went wild and struck Hotlink in the shoulder.

At that moment, Hotlink had been pointing his flamethrower at Groove (because that's what his elongated weapon was), and his finger was pressing the trigger as the rocket struck. The impact knocked him over, and his flamethrower went off and ignited a portion of the forest floor... including the part where Mrs. Gordon just happened to be running at that exact moment. The flames consumed her in an instant.

**"NO!"** shouted the Autobots, Hotlink, Dropshot, and Finn collectively.

"Huh, it looks like I got to see humans burning after all." remarked Sunstorm. He looked at Blades and said "Good job buddy! Thanks for the lead in to the show!"

"Sunstorm! Don't make the situation worse!" growled Growl.

Too late, because Blades was utterly furious about the implication that the death of Mrs. Gordon was his fault. "What did you say to me you slag-licking bastard?!" he shrieked "I don't kill organic civilians! This is on you!" he said, pointing at Dropshot and Hotlink. "You're both going to pay in blood for this... especially you." he said, pointing at Dropshot in specific.

"Wait, me? Why am I the main culprit here? I understand partial blame, but this wasn't all my fault!" exclaimed a terrified Dropshot.

"It...It wasn't my intent to kill her!" stammered Hotlink "My aim was thrown off! Our orders were to not kill any civilians today, just take them in alive for..."

"Y...Yea! If you want to blame someone... fine, blame us, but you're just as guilty as we are! You're the one who redirected my rocket!" exclaimed Dropshot.

"What are you doing! Don't try reasoning with him!" shouted Growl.

But it was a bit late for that. Blades unleashed a furious scream and charged straight at Dropshot with clear killing intent.

Suddenly, another green vortex appeared in the sky and a giant laser fired out of it, causing Blades to abort his and leap back. "What the slagging?!" exclaimed Blades

"Is this?!" exclaimed Dropshot.

"Maybe this means reinforcements!" exclaimed Sunstorm enthusiastically "Hell, yea, we'll see who's going to pay in blood now, Autobots." As soon as those words left his lips, they were surrounded by American military personnel. The surviving Decepticons all slowly raised their arms, then Hotlink got a call on his comlink.

He quickly listened to the message, then proclaimed "Decepticons! All of our fellows have already returned to base! While our tertiary goal was a failure and the success of our secondary goal remains ambiguous, our primary mission has been a complete success. We've done what we came here for, and that laser was a signal for us to return. Well, that and the boss was watching and he decided to bail us out. Return to base everyone." he ordered.

Hotlink pressed a button, and then his body quickly disassembled like so many LEGO bricks and shot into the sky. The other Decepticons followed suit. The battle had ended in something of a tragic anticlimax.

Everybody stood silent and still for several moments, then Finn glanced over at the charred remains of his mother... and he broke down sobbing and he fell to the ground. One of the soldiers immediately put down his weapon and ran over to comfort him.

The blue fire-truck robot retracted his weapons, rubbed his eyes with the fingers of his left hand and muttered "Well that's... just... prime."

* * *

In a purple and green fortress hidden somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean, the escaped Decepticons rematerialized. As soon as they did, Hotlink clutched the shoulder wound that he had received from the misfired rocket and slumped against the wall, and Sunstorm fell back on his aft.

"You look like Hell." said a large, looming figure "Your final report?"

Hotlink froze and saluted the looming figure, then he kicked Sunstorm. "Huh? Oh yea, I'm wingleader." he mumbled. Looking at the looming figure he said "Far as I know, sir... Hotlink, Growl, and Dropship burned that base, just like you wanted. Though I didn't see any captives..."

The figure sighed "Our loan from high command assisted them in that venture and returned with our prisoners. I'm well of, and pleased with, the results of our primary mission. I'm asking about your part of the mission."

"Well, sir... we encountered a human family while we were out burning the forest. Two adults and one spawn, in-between... child? and adult age. The spawn is alive and with the Autobots, but the adults kinda got charred." said Sunstorm sheepishly.

"Hotlink. You're the better speaker. Explain."

"Yea... well... we probably shouldn't pretend that we don't have signal jamming tech again. Apparently, Bitstream had the EMP I gave him kicked back into his face, and Tracer tried to be fancy and shoot the human's communication device right out of his hand. He hit it, but he misjudged the amount of damage that our weapons can do to a human, even if it isn't a direct hit."

Hotlink sighed "If I may, sir? What exactly, was the point in pretending that we don't have jamming technology? I will state, for the record, that I told you ahead of time that it was a bad idea, and by all appearances, I have been proven correct. Sir, if we must pretend like this again, might I suggest that instead, we pretend that we are having difficulty jamming their signals instead?"

"...Suggestion noted, soldier. Let it be known that I concede that you may have a point." said the commanding officer, and Hotlink sighed in relief. "You may continue with your report."

Hotlink cringed "As for the other adult human... during the firefight with the Autobots, one of Dripshot's rockets got redirected at me, thanks to the Autobot Blades, just as I was firing at the Autobot Groove. The impact threw both me and my aim, and I accidentally shot the other parent with my flamethrower instead. I... apologize for not being able to follow orders, sir." apologized Hotlink, lowering his head.

The commander sighed "Disappointing... but understandable. Given the circumstances... it couldn't be helped. Alright, given the reason you failed to follow orders, and what you did manage to accomplish... I can't be to upset with you. Apology accepted, Hotlink. I'll give Gravedigger a call. She'll give you a full repair job."

"Yes sir. Thank you for your understanding and your mercy, Commander Scorponok." said Hotlink, saluting his commander once more and exiting the room.

* * *

_So, yea. This is my first proper attempt at a Transformers ongoing in years. I hope you guys got some enjoyment out of it. Look, the idea behind this series is to give some focus on some lesser known characters who normally don't get much focus in canon. This isn't tied to any specific Transformers Universe, in fact, I kind of see it as a sort of "ultimitized" Transformers universe where every character in Transformers fiction ever exists in SOME fashion and has the potential to show up in some capacity. _

_What I want to do here is attempt an original story that naturally escalates and gives attention to or reimagine a number of forgotten characters. I have a basic plot outline, and certain key events planned out, but there are still plenty of things that I'd be making up as I go along. Thus, I am perfectly willing to take advice or discuss ideas with anybody who is interested in this story. Just look at this as the prototype version of this story. I'm hopeful for this story, because I've wanted to write it since 2016 or so, but I've been putting it off for one reason or another, so if you have a criticism, please make it constructive._


	2. Why and What Now

_Well, the first chapter didn't really get any attention, but it's too soon to pass judgment on why. So here is the second chapter, here to set up what you can ACTUALLY expect from this story._

* * *

"Damn. What are the odds of that?" asked Windcharger.

"What, that the victims of this attack would be my own family?!" asked Jason Gordon bitterly. "In my opinion, it depends on one thing. Do the Decepticons actually know who I am? Was this attack designed to get at you through your human allies? Am I not going to be the only one here who is going to lose someone to them shortly?!" he asked, suddenly shouting.

"We don't know why the Decepticons were at Red Mountain just yet, Sergeant Gordon." said the firetruck robot. "We left Streetwise behind with an investigation team, and sent Beachcomber over to assist them. They are going to evaluate the scene and try to figure out what the Decepticons were doing there."

"BEACHCOMBER?! What use could the team geologist possibly have in a... wait... sorry. I just remembered what the mountain was famous for." Jason took a deep breath and sighed deeply. He rubbed his face before continuing "Sorry, Hot Spot. It's just that...this is a mess. My mom and pop are six feet under, and now I've got to be looking out for Finn for the next three years... while I also have to deal with this Decepticon crap! This is above my pay grade! I shouldn't have clearance for any of this shit!"

"...you speak as if caring for your sibling and helping to protect your planet were a bad thing. Shouldn't... you want to do both?" asked a feminine voice.

Jason glared at the red and white robot with the red cross symbols who said it.

"I think that you're _kinda_ missing the point here, First Aid." remarked Groove, who was sitting on a table, being repaired by the bot in question. "Of course he's going to do it. It doesn't mean it isn't a pain to deal with."

"So... what are you going to do about it. The situation with your brother, I mean?" asked Hot Spot.

"Well, Hot Spot. Unfortunately... I think that I may have to move him in here with you guys."

Hot Spot looked shocked by this response, while a blue robot with a red mask enthusiastically proclaimed "Sweet! New human roommate! This should make things interesting!" the other Transformers glared at him.

"...Seriously, man? That's the first thing that comes to mind when you hear that announcement? You've really got to straighten out your priorities, Eject." remarked Groove.

"Well, I'm just saying-" protested Eject, getting interrupted by Hot Spot.

"Sergeant Gordon, why, exactly, would you have your brother live with us? Isn't he capable of living on the barracks with you?"

Jason sighed "Not... exactly. Several bases do allow family to live on or near the, but in all of those cases, there is a procedure for getting them moved on, so I'd have to go through that gigantic, slow moving headache before I can get Finn properly moved in. Plus, the specific base that _I _live on right now normally doesn't allow family on site. For reasons that I assume that you can guess. If I got transferred, I could probably work it out within a couple of months, but on short notice... on short notice having him room here would probably be the most convenient for me anyways. It's not like he doesn't already know that you exist. Besides, there are a few other reasons to stick him with you other than convenience."

"Such as...?" asked Hot Spot.

"What if the Decepticons _were_ targeting families? I can't exactly send him to school or to live on a public location when he is a survivor/escapee of a Decepticon attack. That's like painting a gigantic bullseye on all of his weakest points and sending him onto a battlefield. Plus, he's fifteen and understandably upset by this whole situation. Do you honestly believe he's going to keep his trap shut about even the little he already knows, even if we threaten him with the wrath of the federal government? It'll be hard for him to lie convincingly at this point anyways."

"Are you expecting us to homeschool him, Sergeant?" asked Hot Spot.

"Not necessarily. But if you have to, I'm sure Eject would be able to and love it." remarked Jason, jamming his thumb in the blue bot's direction. "Plus... there's the matter of fact that he needs to confront what happened head on. He's going to be resentful towards... probably all Cybertronians for this incident, but most likely he's going to be particularly spiteful towards Blades, Dropshop, and Hotlink. If what you've told us about your war is true, then your presence on Earth isn't going to stay a secret forever. Might as well get practice in dealing with people who hate you for various reasons."

Hot Spot was silent for several moments, then he said. "Very well. Bring your brother here, Sergeant."

"Wait, we're actually going to do this?!" exclaimed Windcharger.

"I think Hot Spot's making the right choice. The Sergeant does make some very good points. We have no idea what the Decepticons were up to." said First Aid.

* * *

"There. Your repair job is complete." said a green and purple visored robot to Hotlink.

"Thank you ma'm." said Hotlink, and he jumped off the table and rolled his shoulder. "Good as new. So, who's next on the list, Sunstorm?"

She snorted "Of course not. That moron is going dead last. He can suffer the consequences for his stupidity. I swear, he's going to dig his own grave one day, and yours." she muttered.

"Oh, and how would you feel about that? Not only would he be undoing all of your hard work, he'd be stealing your name and job, eh Gravedigger?" said Hotlink, grinning widely over his awful pun.

She glared at him, expression unreadable. Then she pulled out a knife and slashed him across the bridge of the nose, coldly proclaiming "Don't expect me to fix that." as he yelped in pain.

At that moment, there was a knock on the door and Dropshot entered. "Hey doc? Is... you know... is _he_ doing alright? Can... can I go see him?"

Gravedigger gave him a look for a few moments, then she said. "Sure. Go ahead, go knock yourself out. You go with him Hotfink." she remarked.

"Actually, it's Hotlink." she closed her fist and backhanded him across the back of his head. "Don't you think I know that. Now go! Get out of my sight!" she exclaimed

Hotlink and Dropshot walked out of Gravedigger's lab and walked towards an adjacent room. They stood outside of the door for a few moments, and gave each other a brief, significant look. Then they each took a deep breath and opened the door. Sitting in a chair on the other side was another Decepticon. He seemed to be in some kind of stupor. His head was lulled back in his chair and his eyes were dim. His color scheme was purple and white, and he had giant "5"s emblazoned on his shoulders. His left hand appeared to have been recently severed and had been replaced with some kind of power tool, and there was a metal patch covering his right eye.

"H-Hey, Deluge. How ya doin?" asked Dropshot politely.

No response.

"Ehhh... look, Deluge. I'm not going to waste your time, so I'll go out and say it." said Hotlink. "We just performed a hit on the ones who did this to you. We aren't just ignoring you or your plight. Far from it, we are taking what happened to you with completely seriously."

"SO seriously, in fact, that we are actually trying to get the freaking AUTOBOTS involved in taking them down." added Dropshot.

"It's not supposed to be a direct collaborative effort, just an FYI, we're actually hoping to squeeze them from both ends. **SPEAKING** of squeezing..." added Hotlink. He pressed a few buttons on a console and a wall slid out, revealing a bunch of bound and bloodied humans in black paramilitary uniforms.

"We brought you a little something from our raid." a little table with several tools and dangerous looking instruments rose from the floor. "We thought that you might appreciate the opportunity for some payback."

A gleam appeared in Deluge's eyes, and life returned to his limbs. He slowly rose out of his chair and made his way towards the instruments. "Have fun..." said Hotlink as he and Dropshot exited the room. The screams of the humans began just as they left hearing range.

"It's nice to see some life in him." stated Dropshot, and Hotlink nodded.

"Why do you even bother?" snarled an irritated voice from the left. They turned to look at a white and grey robot with red fins and a cone shaped head leaning against the wall. "He was captured by humans while out on a collection mission, dissected- probably giving them access to our technology, and was reduced to this pathetic husk. He's a disgrace to the Decepticon name. Why don't we just turn him in for scrap, rather than avenging him?" he asked snidely.

"And you'd know all about disgraces towards the Decepticon name, wouldn't you, Ramjet?" Hotlink fired back. "Remind me, who was the one who got _expelled_ from the Air Commander's _personal squadron_, and was subsequently bummed on us under the guise of a "gift" from high command?"

Ramjet primed his arm cannons and aimed them at Hotlink "You want to run that by me again, you third-rate, C-list, sub-level slag-seeker?" he snarled. Hotlink and Dropshot also readied their weapons, but then Scorponok made an appearance in order to intervene.

"That's enough, I will not have any infighting, not when our reason for being on this planet on this first place relates to our dwindling numbers. Ramjet, I understand why you think that way, but consider this. We are constantly running low on soldiers and are constantly having to create new breeds of warriors to fight in our war in order to keep up. Like I said, it's why we are on this planet in the first place. So if we are here to _increase_ the number of soldiers at our disposal, why should we squander any of the full-energoned, non-drone Decepticons that we have? Isn't it logical for us to try and salvage what we can?" he pleaded.

"Yes, Deluge is... damaged... by his encounter with that human paramilitary unit, but I do believe that he can still be saved. He could still be of use to us, and if we rehabilitate damaged soldiers, if we care for them in their hour of need... would that not ingratiate that to us? Would that not aid in solidifying their loyalty and their resolve? I believe so, and THAT, my dear Ramjet, is why we are going to such lengths in order to aid poor, poor Deluge. It is reasonable, don't you think?" he asked, extending a claw towards Ramjet.

"Feh. I still don't see how you seem to think that he's salvageable. If you ask me, his mind's burnt toast." said Ramjet. He was protesting the point, but he still lowered one of his guns.

"How about this, then? His capture alerted us to a threat, a threat of which we were previously blind to. A threat that we can manipulate the Autobots into dealing with for us, thus helping us get them off of our backs, and allowing us to dedicate more time to project Orthrus. Due to the combination of alerting us to a threat, and the distraction that said threat provides, I'd say that what happened to Deluge may end up being beneficiary in the long run. So it's possible that we may end up owing him a debt of gratitude. Does this answer satisfy you, Ramjet?" asked Scorponok.

"...You're duly warned that I don't like any of this." said Ramjet. "But I'll concede your point... for now." he said, and he stood down completely. "Anything that could distract the Autobots significantly COULD prove to be useful."

* * *

"This is a terrible idea. Don't you think that he'll just amount to one huge distraction?" griped Streetwise as the Autobots gathered in preparation for Finn coming into their base for the first time.

"Given his age and the circumstances... there is a good chance that he'll be quite the distraction... but even so, we have to deal with it. At least for now." said Hot Spot. "Eject actually proposed an idea that, if it works, might help make him a bit less of a nuisance... if we come to think of him as one. You probably won't like what it is, but I already approved it, and Eject and Scoop are already working on it, if they haven't already finished it. Now don't let him hear you, he's here."

Jason lead his brother into the center of the room. Ten Autobots gathered in a circle around the brothers, while some Autotroopers watched them from a balcony.

"Alright Finn, like I said before, I'm sorry, but due to some very... stupid complications, I can't just bring you onto the main part of the base to live with me. I am one of several people who regularly checks in here anyways, so... sorry, but you're going to have to be living with these guys. Please don't hate me for this, I understand why you would, but I really can't control this situation." explained Jason.

Finn just gave him a blank look and said. "Why the hell do I have to bunk with a bunch of giant robots? I thought that military people could live on bases with their families."

"It's... more complicated than you think." said Jason. "And well... this was the most convenient place to put you on short notice. Like I said, it's understandable if you hate it, but if it's any consolation, it doesn't have to be permanent."

Finn sighed wearily. "That's fine, I guess. I guess I'm going to have to be introduced to everyone... and get just what the _fuck_ you all are explained to me." he said intensely.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Watch your language there!" exclaimed Jason.

"I...though Groove already explained it to you?" asked Hot Spot. He looked around, knelt down and said "We are autonomous robots from the Planet Cybertron. Hence, we brand ourselves as 'Autobots'. We are caught in an extended period of internal strife that divided our global population into two primary factions, Autobot, and Decepticon. This leading to a war that has lasted for millennia, and has since consumed our homeworld of Cybertron. Hence, our conflict is now spreading throughout the known universe."

"Or, if you want to put it more simply... we're alien robots with free will and souls who are trapped in a never ending global civil war. That ruined our planet and is now trying to ruin every other planet in the galaxy." offered Eject. The other Autobots glared at him.

"...Ok..." said Finn. "So... your stupid war is here, and it got my parents killed. So... how long until we get a proper invasion and the media goes bat... crazy... loses anything that resembles sanity that it still has?" asked Finn.

"Earth isn't actually a proper front of the war right now, kid. We're just a random outpost in a strategic location." explained Streetwise "Those Decepticons you encountered? They're the muscle for some scientists doing a military experiment on your planet. Essentially, you just got caught up in a random frontier skirmish."

"Umm... is it just me, or do all of you cop cars have a way with words when it comes to sensitive subjects?" remarked and armored robots with SWAT written on his sides, and whose head resembled a chess piece.

"Bluestreak isn't like that." invited Windcharger. "Well, at the very least, she's nice about it when she's being insensitive, and you can tell that its unintentional. Her brother, on the other hand... yea, your point applies to him. Silverstreak is basically Prowl 2.0."

"OK, Rook, Windcharger. can we please get back on subject?" requested Streetwise.

They all looked back at Finn who was staring blankly at the floor. "...So I'm nothing special. Then who are you guys in regards to your whole... war thing? Nobody important, I guess."

"We're the Protectobots... and four additional Autobots... and like, thirty Autotroopers." offered Rook. The others looked at him "What? Is that not what we are? I'm just as much a Protectobot as the rest of you now in the eyes of high command, remember?"

"Yea, well considering he had no slagging idea what an Autobot was until just now, I highly doubt he'd understand the significance of the name 'Protectobot' now would he? Just say that we're a team specifically put together for the defense of alien races, and that we currently have some non-permanent members in our roster. Is that so hard slag-brain?" said Blades, getting up into Rook's personal space.

Eject intervened "So we have this thing on Cybertron where we form teams based on our skillsets, and give them a fancy name and we all work together on a semi-permanent basis. Decepticon Seekers typically work in trines, though the Air Commander's Unit is double the usual size, specialized units mostly comprising of smaller bots usually comprise of four members, but teams of five or even six are the most common. Most Cybertronians that you'll meet will be part of a team. Sort of. Some of us are never permanently assigned to a team and are moved from unit to unit, though the Protectobots are a rather stable team. They had just five permanent members until recently. For reasons I'm not going to get into for now, they've got six permanent members now."

"Thank you... for that very wordy intervention." said Hot Spot, interrupting before Eject could say even more. "I think we should actually get to the introductions now, or we'll be here all day. I, am Hot Spot. The commander of this outpost, and the leader of the Protectobots." he said as he put a hand on his chest. Then he reached out and motioned towards Streetwise. "Streetwise is my second in command, and, as you might have surmised, is ex-law enforcement." Streetwise simply nodded.

"Blades is our sole flyer and our muscle." continued Hot Spot

"And a tool and a murderer." muttered Finn.

"Hey, wanna say that to my face, kid?!" shouted Blades angrily as he started to step forward. Hot Spot intervened and stepped in between Blades and Finn, and forced Blades to sit down. Turning around, he continued his introductions as if nothing happened.

"You've already become acquainted with Groove, our scout."

"Sorry that I couldn't do more for you back there, kid. But I hope that I can do more for you in the future, and I hope that, despite what happened, we can be friends." said Groove, kneeling in front of Finn.

"This is First Aid. She's our medic."

"For the record, I just want you to know that I'm still studying up on human anatomy, so I might not be of much use if you get injured in the near future. Sorry, I'm working on it." she said.

"And this is Rook, the newest member of the Protectobots."

"I'd call him our tank... but he doesn't turn into a tank. I don't know how else to describe him though, because I feel like that is the best description. I mean, he's armored, tough, hits like a truck... literally, you saw what he did back at the mountain, and he doesn't even have normal hands, they're these constantly shapeshifting... things." interjected Eject.

"Well... yea, what do you expect when I'm _literally_ built for combat?" said Rook, sounding somewhat bitter.

"The living commentary over there who thinks that he's a fraggin comedian is Eject. Though we might as well call him 'reject' what with all the terrible jokes that should have been rejected entry into our world from his mouthplate, but NOOOO..." mumbled Blades. Half the Autobots gave him a death glare for that.

"He's our info guy." threw in Groove simply.

"Well, to be more specific, I'm an information specialist. I ingrain myself into the local cultural databases and learn all that I can about the locals, and I use that info in order to try and help us to fit in and try to... eject any bad terms from our vocabulary. Or eject any negative stereotypes that don't match up with our beliefs in order to avoid a... culture clash... with our allies somewhere down the road." elaborated Eject.

"Windcharger is... an old friend of our Commander-in-chief who he's gracefully decided to loan to us. He's a specialist. An outlier with a unique ability." said Hot Spot, standing next to the bot in question

"OK, I just want to say for the record that he's known Eject for just as long, and that neither of us have ever been particularly close with the big bot himself, so calling us friends might be a stretch." said Windcharger "As for my ability... I call them my magic arms. Basically, I can use them to generate a powerful magnetic field. I've had a lot of practice in gaining control over it, so I've gotten better with it over the years. It used to only work on non-living metal, but now I can use it on anything with magnetic properties."

"Well SOMEONE sounds overpowered. You're either going to die soon, turn evil, or get shunted to the side for one reason or another. Frankly, you sound like Magneto." snarked Finn.

"Wha... Why... Mag-who?" asked Windcharger.

"Comic book super-villain. Has incredible magnetic abilities. Has a sympathetic backstory and has switched sides a bunch of times." explained Eject.

"...I'd... like to think that I'm... better than that?" said an unsure Windcharger.

"...Moving on... Scoop is our construction expert and sharpshooter. He's _very_ good at both jobs. I suppose it is to be expected. He is an ex-Wrecker after all." said Hot Spot.

"Basically they're... I wanna say that they are our Seal Team Six? I don't think that is the best analogy, but I think it's the best commonly known one." said Eject.

"And finally..." said Hot Spot, moving onto a visored robot with a grey body and blue extremities. "This is Beachcomber, the team geologist." Beachcomber said nothing, he simply nodded silently.

"Wait... so there is only one girl and she's the medic?" asked Finn, searching for something to criticize.

"Oh no, don't you start us down that path." interjected Eject. "Look kid, it has nothing to do with sexism, so don't go around throwing accusations."

"...I feel like I should be offended, but I have no idea what you are talking about." said First Aid.

Eject continued on his tirade "Look. For whatever reason, out of Cybertron's entire population, only 15% is femme. Even we have no idea _why_ that is, it just is. She's very skilled at her job, and nobody would think for a second to criticize her. So don't you dare."

"...great, so are we going to have to constantly explain shit to this whiney brat?" moaned Blades.

"Actually no." said Eject. "I don't like your tone or the way that you said it... but thanks for the Segway anyways." said Eject. "Scoop and I actually whipped up something that should help to reduce the number of questions we get asked. Scoop?"

The orange bot handed down a case, and inside was what resembled a thick pair of sunglasses ripped straight from the 1980s.

"...Why the hell would I wear those?" asked Finn incredulously.

"Because they are wirelessly hooked up to our database... actually, that's not entirely true. It's basically... Autopedia, the human edition. You won't be able to access any sensitive information, but you can use it like a computer and look up any Cybertronian you meet or hear about, or look up specific Cybertronian concepts. They basically work like VR goggles. The button on the left activates a virtual keypad/mousepad and search bar, and the button on the right allows you to look up the person who you are looking at. Go ahead, do me." encouraged Eject.

Finn sighed and put on the glasses. He did as he was instructed, and a wall of text appeared.

* * *

• **Eject: **_Autobot Outpost Defensor 3-6-13s information specialist. Born on Functionist Cybertron, he was accidentally created as part of an experiment by the Functionists. They wanted to artificially create their own artificial outlier with a Leader Class body. The experiment went wrong and the spark being experimented on split and inhabited five empty shells of the disposable class. Three of these gained various outlier abilities. The other two gained processing and retention abilities far beyond any other members of their class, though each specialized in a different area._

_Eject was one of the latter, and the least impressive of the two. While his brother, dubbed "Rewind" specialized in history and could easily be assigned the role of Archivist, Eject specialized in what the Functionists dubbed "cultural assimilation". In other words, he had a fascination with, and thus, the ability to memorize an incredible amount of details of various cultures, an ability which the Xenophobic Functionist Council had no use for._

_Dubbed "The Reject" by the Functionists, he was assigned the same menial tasks as other members of the Disposable Class, while they made use of his four brothers. He went from job to job until he fell into the hands of the Iacon police force. While assigned there, he was treated like an equal by most of his peers despite his status. This directly led him to be among the first 100 to join the Autobot cause upon its inception. At which time he officially dropped the "The" and the "R" in his name. He has been a member of the Autobots in good standing ever since._

_Assigned to Earth due to his specialty, as Earth is home to a ridiculous variety of unique cultures._

* * *

"What the..." said Finn.

"Pretty cool, huh? I call them... tech specs." said Eject, doing a dramatic gesture with his hands.

"Umm... little problem. That was a crap ton of info all at once and... I have no idea what the hell at least half of that was. Do you _really_ think that this thing is going to be helpful?" asked Finn incredulously.

"Sure. You just need to get used to it and learn a bit about us. Then it'll all make much more sense." said Eject quickly.

"You're willing to do just about anything to avoid cutting short one of your precious infodumps, aren't you reject?" snarked Blades "Even if you aren't actually giving them yourself."

"...OK, were you always a dick, or..." asked Finn, then he decided to just press the button and answer his own question.

* * *

• **Blades: **_the Protectobots team psychopath. Blades is a warrior, through and through. He fights, not to bring about the end to the fighting, but simply because he loves fighting. Extremely volatile and violent, he is only an Autobot and a member of the Protectobots because he has a thin sense of morality. That morality? He doesn't believe in harming organic non-combatants or anybody he deems "truly innocent". Anybody else? All is fair in war, according to him._

_So why is he a Protectobot when his core beliefs are so wildly different from his teammates? Because despite that, he genuinely respects them and their sense of morality and their genuine desire to protect the week and vulnerable. While he could certainly beat any of them on a one on one fight, and he knows that none of them particularly love still they fight, and everyone one of his teammates has stood up to someone out of their league and survived because of their iron will. Blades is fully aware of this, and that is why he does not mind working with them._

_That does not make him any less of a jerk however, and he has won a "most unlikeable Autobot" award at least 50 times._

* * *

"Huh, I guess so." said Finn.

This actually resulted in the start of a massive shouting match, in the middle of which, Finn quietly slunk away.

Rook watched him go. "And... we're already failing at this. This is _not_ how you look after a shell shocked person. For all of his knowledge about humans, Eject sure seems to miss the obvious sometimes." he thought to himself. After a few moments of hesitation, he followed Finn to his room.

* * *

Finn didn't get to rest like he had intended. Not long after he had laid his specs down and laid down to think, he heard a knock on his door.

"Hey kid...no... hey Finn? It's Rook. Look... I get it. We did a horrible job at handling this situation. I'm sorry for that. I can tell your'e hurting look, I just want to talk. If you don't want a conversation, that's fine. Feel free to yell, rant scream, spill all your hatred on me. I'll take it if it'll help you feel better. But I don't want to see you get destroyed by all of this. So could you please just open the door? You might as well speak your mind now and get it over with, instead of letting your rage boil over time."

Finn ignored him for a minute, then he sighed, walked to the door, opened it, and glared up at Rook.

* * *

_Next time. **Desecrated Youth**: Finn and Rook have a heart to heart while the Decepticons continue their business as usual._


End file.
